SIOUX CITY – Authorities say this Northern Iowa volunteer firefighter was getting toasty with the wrong kind of images on his cell phone, and it will cost him a trip to the big house.
Kenneth Brown, 60, from Badger, Iowa, was sentenced on December 19, 2025, to 4 years’ imprisonment. Brown pled guilty on July 22, 2025, to one count of possession of child pornography in a Sioux City federal court.
Evidence in the case showed that from early May 2023, through April 3, 2024, Brown received and possessed child pornography. A CyberTip to law enforcement revealed 32 files of child pornography had been uploaded to the internet from Brown’s cell phone. Brown was a volunteer firefighter with Badger Fire and Rescue. During a forensic examination of Brown’s phone, 27 videos and 28 images of child pornography were found, some containing materials depicting sadistic and masochistic conduct as well as prepubescent children and toddlers.
Sentencing was held before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Brown was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment and must serve a 5-year term of supervised release following imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. Brown remains in custody of the United States Marshal until he can be transported to a federal prison. Brown was also ordered to pay $9,000 in restitution to the victims in this case, as well as $1,100 in fines and assessments.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
The case was investigated by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.